Confederation of the Isle
|- |} The Confederation of the Isle was a short-lived aristocratic union on the Isle of la Tondelle, now a part of the nation-setate of Kanjor, that strived for independence of the unique political, economic, and cultural system of the Isle and its estimated 1.2 million inhabitants. It was created after the successful defeat of the army of Kanjor's King Albert I at the battle of Atyr in 1544 by the rebellious Dukes Richard XVI of Bayon and Robert II of Villiers. These two dukedoms were soon joined by the Dukes of Deims et Map, Loitiers, Sologne, l'Ome, the Marquis of Famiens, Countship of Louvergne, and the Residential City of Afar. The Confederation lasted thirty years before it was forcibly reunited with the Mainland in 1574. However, during its time it reinforced the unique cultural, economic and political systems of the Isle and was instrumental in the establishment of autonomy for its populace during the United Kingdom of Kanjor & the Isle of la Tondelle (1783 - 1804), the Kingdom of the Two Kanjors (1804 - 1948), the Captaincy-General of the Two Kanjors (2207 - 2245), and later the Confederation of the Two Kanjors (2340 - 2465). History - lasted 32 years - Founding - call for rebellion against King Albert I in 1542; - was called by nobles, led by Dukes of the Isle - same Dukes who had rebelled a century before War with the Mainland - Battle of Atyr was greatest victory, King Albert I was killed and King's forces chased from the Isle - Final Years - Battle of the Bay - Battle of the Channel Government & Economy - started as oligarchical rule by the dukes of Silliers, Diems et Map, Loitiers, Bayon et Villiers, Sologne, Marquis of Famiens, County of Louvergne, free cities of Afar, duke of l'Ome - Confederation Congress came under influence of young Patric III, Duc de Bayon et Villiers (22 years old), chosen as youngest High Lord Protector(?); encouraged change, citing fear of the mainland and need to modernize the armed forces, esp. the navy; pushed through many reforms; considered on the Isle the greatest leader in history - killed - eventually developed both high & low houses for nobles & commoners; but lost before this experiment could be continued - roads were ridiculously bad on the Isle; however, since island & had easy access to the seas, nobles decided to pursue an ambitious scheme to build series of canals; especially across the northwestern La Tondelle and northeastern Silliers to Silliers Bay; another plan was to connect the northeastern-flowing Silliers River and the western-flowing Nesbre River - created three major canals alongside dozens of smaller and local canals - the major ones: *''Canal du centre'' (Canal of the Center of the Isle), took 13 years to complete, finished 1556, often simply Grand canal connecting the westward flowing Nesbre River in central La Tondelle at the town of Jaligny-sur-Nesbre to the small port city of Risère on Silliers Bay; from there, the barges would pulled up the bay to Afar and eventual transport to outside markets; this canal connected the entire center of the Isle, flowing past both Famiens (where it connected to the south-flowing Brés River) in La Tondelle and Germain in Silliers *''Canal du Nesbre-Richard'' (Canal of Nesbre-Richard), built 1559, this canal connected the western-flowing King Richard River on the upper peninsula of La Tondelle to Jaligny-sur-Nesbre; created a vast canal intersection at the town (town prospered and served as commercial hub & playground for inner-Isle rich until the establishment of the rail system) *''Canal du Map-Nesbre'' (Map-Nesbre Canal), built in 1564, this canal connected the southward-flowing Map River to the canal intersection at Jaligny-sur-Nesbre - canals consisted of horse or oxen drawn barges; eased travel for passengers but especially for grain and goods from the interior of the Isle to markets or to seaside ports - after the creation of the canals, the cost of travel for goods & passengers was lessened by a third (despite the excessive tolls and fees) and the traveling time of both lessened by nearly three-fourths! - canals & ships on board began the revolution of punctuality, recognizing specific hours of departure & arrival down to the minute - this lead the popularity of clocks & the establishment of clockmaking on the Isle - however, despite the "speed" of the new canal system, many observed that it was still "painfully slow" in passenger travel; whereas sea travel was much faster, while less predictable Toll & Tax System Canal & Travel Tolls, Fees, & Taxes - however, tax systems remained in the hands of local lords & soon the canals became important purveyors of money to cash strapped lords - soon toll stations developed at the beginning & end of all estate land in which the canal ran, no matter how small - some lords, especially the Grand Duchy of Loitiers, put up a "toll every turn of the canal and every straightaway in between" - the Confederation Congress recognized this but was unable to end tolls, by end of the Confederation, they had succeeded in regulating only excessive toll fees & shutting down a few of the extremely high toll stops - ports of entrance & departure burdened travelers with custom fees, tolls, poll taxes, & usage fees Internal & External Trade Fishing - fishing was major, especially cod; transported fish everywhere on the Isle & was major supplier to most of Majatra & parts of northern Seleya - major fishing fleets developed quickly - other sea products became part of local cuisine & demand grew for them as more people began to eat better; especially crabs, mussels, lobster, Salt & the Development of Trading Companies - salt was most important for all of Isle, had to be imported from Majatra or created on the sea; proved to be easier to do the former; soon individual lords began to send out shipping but caused problem: flooded the isle with salt, driving down its price and preventing adequate profitmaking; in 1550 the Congress agreed to create one trading company under the jurisdiction of the Congress that would have a monopoly over the salt trade; it would be divvied out via a census of the people of each feudal holding; to prevent fraud, a poll tax was added to the legislation - this salt trading company expanded its trade to other products & came to be known as the Compagnie pour le commerce des terres occidentales (Trading Company of the Western Lands) in 1561, "Western Lands" referred to Majatra, especially Quanzar - these trading ventures brought back fruits & spices which became a staple of Isle-ander, and later all Kanjorien, foods - 1561 also saw the establishment of the Compagnie des terres nordique (Company of the Northern Lands) to trade with friendly nations on Seleya; particularly states in modern-Alduria and Rildanor, however, effectively barred from trading with the mainland of Kanjor Agricultural Crops - grains & cereals were major exports; along with tree nuts, particularly chestnuts - canals created strong desire to produce more & export for profit; but land could not grow anymore - many peasant farmers & landlords still used three-field system - Dukes of Bayon and Villiers decided to enclose fields in order to sell land to pay for military & canal system starting in 1545; when potato introduced from Artania in 1547 and caught on quickly there was a new crop that could be exported and solved the problem of soil exhaustion; Dukes freed their serfs & peasants & began selling & renting out lands to them - by 1554, this process had begun in earnest in the major agricultural region of La Tondelle, despite the reluctance of many conservative nobles - with this & other agricultural changes the center, northwest & south of La Tondelle became some of the most prosperous and efficient farmers in all of southern Seleya - exported vast amounts of grain, cereals, nuts & potatoes; reaching the equivalency of 4,500,000 KRP in 1564 alone! Manufacturing - manufacturing centered around residential cities/towns, small towns, & villages - controlled exclusively by the guilds; the Isle was self-sufficient in most products with the exception of iron & cotton - unique system of guilds developed in Silliers & soon spread to La Tondelle; the guilds in Bayonville united to form one large manufacturing guild which elected its officers, purchased materials, manufactured the goods & sold them to area merchants at numbers and rates previously agreed upon by bargaining with the Duke serving as mediator - this system ensured that the monopolistic trade companies to take products & sell them overseas for assured profits which were beneficial to the ruling nobles who "owned" the majority of the "shares" of the companies; it also allowed the Congress to lessen the tax burden on the nobles & the peasants, cityfolk and/or farmers directly - by 1565, the guild system was universal throughout the Isle (with the exception of the Duchy of Deims et Map), however, each lord maintained the right to dictate their own prices & numbers; the Congress was unwilling and unable to change this pattern - Enterprising nobles soon worked with the guilds to branch out manufacturing to rural and peasant households who were to create products, especially wool yarn and clothing, to be collected by the guilds & sold with the lord's permission - La Tondelle became well known for their clocks and furniture, Deims established the Isle's major shipbuilding industry - lumber became a major industry, however, the Marquis of Famiens became afraid that his hunting forests would be lost & so worked with other nobles in La Tondelle to ensure the protection of the forests; in Silliers the allure of profit was too high and many areas were effectively deforested and converted to farmland, thus creating what is currently the most important and productive farmland on the Isle Populace & Culture - at time had roughly 1.5 million residents; nearly all were Française-Kanjorien; very small Jewish population found mostly in Afar - soon after the abundance of food & increased agriculture, the population was still devoted to living in small villages and practiced a self-imposed form of birth control, keeping their total fertility rate to roughly 2.5 children per woman (only slightly above replacement rate) - controlling the birthrate was the desire to keep newly enclosed & purchased farmlands intact; fewer children meant that the land was broken into a few large plots when it was inherited by the farmer's sons & their families upon the passing of the family patriarch; dividing the land amongst the males of the family upon the death of the family patriarch was custom throughout all of Kanjor and was not unique to the Isle - this population control kept numbers low; as a consequence, the average Isle-anders became some of the most well fed people in Terra - further developed language as distinct from the Mainland - much literature written at this stage, particularly poetry - much devotion to the family home or homestead; obsession for most Tondellois to own land - despite the abundanace of nolbes and titles; small yeoman farming actually grew during the period as the pesantry was slowly released from their feudal ties through enclosure or law; varied from parish to parish - still to this day, most families have at least one member that owns and maintains a family plot of either farmland, or home or forested acreage; this of course varies by region and parish - created democratic tradition; while certainly not fully democratic, the government of the Isle fostered the further spread of male suffrage to include small landowners - Legacy - aided in the creation of a unique culture on the Isle - Isle created a system of monopolist & mercantilist trading companies which was later adopted by the mainland and other nearby areas - built canal system - establishment of the Marine Royale Category:Kanjor Category:History Category:Former countries